Carmel Valley planning board aims to play big role in One Paseo revisions

Jamas Gwilliam, vice president of Kilroy Realty, visited the Carmel Valley Community Planning Board on May 28, after the San Diego City Council’s decision May 21 to rescind approval of the One Paseo project and send it back to the community drawing board for revisions.

As planning board members stated, they want to ensure that they have priority seating at that drawing board.

Chair Frisco White said he heard it stated at City Council that Kilroy was able to come to an agreement with the community, but he wanted to make it clear that the compromise reached was between Kilroy and the litigants, which included Donahue Schriber, owner of Del Mar Highlands, as well as the Alliance for Responsible Development, the East Bluff Community Association and Mitigate One Paseo.

“When engaging the community, Kilroy needs to be very open and willing to compromise and not come to us with pre-planned design,” White said.

Board member Anne Harvey agreed and said they want to see the project as a “blob” in the planning stage.

Gwilliam said Kilroy is looking to have more participation in the process than it did the first time around, and that it is hoping to get the revised project through city approvals by the end of the year.

In order to seek approval from council, the new One Paseo project cannot be “substantially similar” to the first proposal. City staff will have the task of determining whether the project is dissimilar enough.

“We’re pleased with this outcome,” Gwilliam said. “We have new set parameters going forward that hopefully address all the concerns voiced on the project. We’re looking forward to engaging with the community and the planning board.”

Under the new parameters, Kilroy has agreed to reduce the project’s 28,000 average daily trips by nearly half, have 30-foot setbacks from El Camino Real and Del Mar Heights Roads, eliminate one planned traffic signal on Del Mar Heights Road, cap office building heights at seven stories and significantly reduce the bulk and scale of the project.